The Houston Astros have been a very tough team to watch. They’ve had good moments, but for the most part, they’ve been terrible. There is bad defense, and terrible pitching. But as of late, the pitching seems to be turning a corner, whether it is the starters or the closer, those two things are getting better. However, they still need to work on a few pieces in the bullpen, and they need to teach Jimmy Paredes not to run everyone over.

One key piece in a bad bullpen is the closer, and after two early blown saves, the closer, Jose Veras, has really settled into his role, and is beginning to become a lock down closer.

Veras has still had shaky outings, like the one in Detroit where he would have allowed a walk off if it weren’t for some great defense from Brandon Barnes, but most inexperienced closers will have those.

Veras brings an intensity like no other. He goes out there and just attacks the hitters, and he is a real leader, on the field, and in the clubhouse. When Veras was signed, there wasn’t an exact feel of what he would bring to this young ball club, but he has certainly settled into the first closers role he has ever been given, and has become a really reliable late inning option for the Astros and Bo Porter to turn to.

Over his past 14 outings, veras has pitched 14.2 innings and allowed two runs while recording eight saves. Opponents are only 4 for 44 (.091) against Veras in those outings.

While the Astros are rebuilding, and ultimately improving as the season has gone on, Veras has been a pleasant surprise for this Astros fan. If the game is headed into the ninth with the Astros leading, there is probably a good chance the Astros ride out of that game with a win due to Veras locking it down.

Richard is joined by the newest members of the Stros Bros, Brian Hamilton and Alex Sandoval, and they discuss Carlos Pena’s spot in the batting order, potential trade bait, prospects, and Reid Ryan joining the Houston Astros as the new President and CEO.

Fernando Martinez, whom the Astros acquired off waivers from the New York Mets in January 2012, will be joining the AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks. He was designated for assignment by the Astros last week. Martinez did not have any options remaining, meaning that he would have to clear waivers and be placed on an MLB teams active roster in order for the Astros to lose him. He went unclaimed and has been assigned to AAA.

It was announced earlier today via twitter from several different people, that Reid Ryan, son of Hall of Famer and former Houston Astro, Nolan Ryan, will become the next President of the Astros. This, of course, follows the resignation of Geoge Postolos this past Monday from the same position. Ryan will be introduced at a news conference at Minute Maid Park tomorrow at 1pm CST.

It seems that the only thing that you hear about the Astros in 2013 is that they are bad, really really really bad. Most of what you hear about the Astros is how they are bad enough to out do the 1962 expansion New York Mets’ worst record in the modern baseball era. Most recently, Buster Olney (whom I revere and respect) on the Baseball Tonight podcast simply trashing the Astros, saying that they were “non-competitive” in their most recent sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, the defending American League champion Detroit Tigers. Olney went on to talk about exactly how bad this team is, listing every possible statistic the Astros are on pace to set a new season worst record for, and summarized how they simply had their butts handed to them on a silver platter by the best team in the American League. Continue reading →